Town-wide, total dollar sales volume of single-family homes and condos/co-ops increased $73,988,994 (+10.86%) from $680,942,681 in 2010 to $754,931,675 in 2011, according to The Evans Report: Fourth Quarter 2011, which includes the 2011 year-end review.

Residents of the Town of Palm Beach joke that you never realize how young you are, or how poor, until you visit Palm Beach. Barron’s PENTA magazine ranks the Town of Palm Beach at 15th in their 20 Best Places For Second Homes article this March.

Brokers tell PENTA that houses not moving tend to have poor layouts or generally need work or are often sandwiched by developments or neighbors in bankruptcy or foreclosure. No fixer-uppers, thank you. The theme these days is “location, quality/condition, location.”

High-end homes are selling again, thanks to a resurgent stock market, falling prices and the growing realization that the once-shaky economy has stabilized.

But don’t call it a boom. In contrast with the mansion-buying frenzy that peaked in 2008, shoppers this time around are driving hard bargains.

Palm Beach County had 517 sales of houses and condos for $1 million or more in the first nine months of 2010, up 13 percent from 457 transactions during the same period in 2009, according to the county property appraiser.

A new look and a younger feeling that’s what builder Paul Wittmann and interior decorator Jack Fhillips had in mind for Wittmann Building Corp.’s latest high-end oceanfront “spec” home at 102 Banyan Road.

“When my partner, Peter Callahan, and I purchased the property, we wanted to create a fresh, clean and crisp look,” Wittmann says.

While researching, he came across a photograph of Rosedon, a small boutique hotel in Bermuda that had once been a private residence.

“It was striking — painted white with white roof and blue shutters and awnings,” Wittmann says. “I gave the photo to Michael Perry of MP Design & Architecture and said, ‘Give me this to build.’”